Bière Darbyste | Brasserie de Blaugies

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This beer is based on historic records, and is brewed with fig juice. Very hazy (the strong carbonation brought up the bottle conditioned sediment once the cork was popped. This could probably have been done better.) Golden-orange robe with a dense rocky head. The aroma is earthy, has a dry fruit character, and a very slight acetic note. The body is thin-medium with an extremely fine and highly effervescent carbonation; giving it a smooth, velvety caress in the mouth. The flavor is dryish, musty, and lightly herbal with a gentle dark fruitiness and a light acidity. The fig flavor is very minimal and I'd probably not be able to distinguish it from the "dark fruit" if I didn't already know it was there. The finish is dry with a gently lingering note of dark fruit. This beer is very one-sided, but also quite unusual. It's actually a delightful, juicy treat for the Belgian connoseur. Refreshing.

Ale with figs, huh; or so says the flier at Zythos Festival '12. The description reads like the start of a drama-riddled start to a biblical story of deception, adultry, and lust... maybe I'm reading too much into it perhaps.

The beer pours with a tawny dark auburn hue with medium haze, and golden highlights. Capped with a cottony white blanket of foam, the beer shows the classic Belgiany look of high effervescence, stubborn creamy persistence, and signature lace.

Dark fruit, caramel, brown sugar, and peppery spice are all represented in the stronger-than-usual aromas of the Belgian pale ale. Nearly seeming of a light dubbel ale, and something of English olde ales; the rich fruit weaves into mild sherry, bread crust, and red wine scent.

Malty with the notion of caramelized bread crust, brown sugar, and fruit juice concentrate, the well-melded flavors wrap around the taste of figs in such a way to also mimic the taste of prunes, raisins, dates, and cashews. Lightly spiced with pepper, cumin, and curacao, the beer's yeast character delivers a nearly plastic taste that's short lived. Though tasty, it's a bit rich for the pale style of ale.

Medium bodied, though- the flavor of fruit and malt don't favor the weight or sweetness of the beer, instead relying on dry taste and texture for a easily drinkable ale that proceeds to an earthy pepper, mild acidity and alcoholically warm finish.

The pronounced fig flavors stand out beyond the malts but do so with more of a non-descript fruit flavor of pitted, dehydrated, dark stone fruits. Fans of Belgian dubbel ales will surely find favor with this ale.

750 ml bottle into tulip glass, no bottle dating. Pours lightly hazy deep orange amber color with a nice 2 finger dense and fluffy cream colored head with great retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Nice soapy lacing clings on the glass. Aromas of big pear, fig, sour apple, golden raisin, honey, bread, floral, grass, hay, funk, earth, light clove, red wine, and yeast spiciness. Very nice aromas with good balance, strength, and complexity. Taste of pear, sour apple, fig, golden raisin, honey, floral, grass, hay, earth, funk, clove, light red wine, and light yeast spiciness. Fair amount of fruity tartness on the finish; with lingering notes of tart light fruits, floral, grass, honey, bread, earth, pepper, clove, hay, funk, light red wine, and light yeast spiciness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice balance and complexity of malt and fruitiness; with a fair amount of funkiness; and zero cloying flavors present after the finish. Medium carbonation and body; with a fairly slick, lightly syrupy, and slightly acidic mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is a damn nice Belgian pale ale! The fig juice works really well here. There is a great amount of flavor complexity with nice funk, and good balance; and very smooth to sip on. A very enjoyable offering.

Presentation: One of many 750ml cork and caged bottles that was sampled with friends on the green lawn outside the gorgeous red bricked Farm cottage that houses the Brasserie de Blaugies, during a recent Brewery Trip on Monday 12th April, 2004.

The third and last offering of the day was the Bière Darbyste. A green bordered label has a creamy background with a black line drawing of the Blaugies Farm Cottage & a Horse and Cart outside. A sedimented Ale that is not filtered and listed at 5.8% Alc. Vol. Strangely, unlike the La Moneuse and Saison DEpeautre, the cork was undated.

Appearance: A restrained but decent thruppp accompanied the removal of the unmarked cork which took some extracting I have to say, I had to the bottom of my shirt to gain extra leverage and manual grip before I got this out. Quiet at first but after a short lapse, the beer started to rise from the bottle before I got chance to line up the 3 Glasses on our Table and pour the beer. A careful slow pour and a steady hand defeated the solid conditioning to produce a healthy looking Pale Ale. The head was just off-white, large, crusty, stiff and very Belgium. The main body was a copper-amber color with a light haze that still allowed you to watch the streamers fizz whilst the Goblet sat on the Table, the streamers never let up. Another Blaugies beer that looks great in the classic Belgium Goblet though.

Nose: Has a gorgeous Belgium Pale Ale nose that has malts and a yeasty character that has a damp musty aspect. The nose benefits from a fresh fruit odor akin to that experienced when walking through an orchard. Some herbal qualities as well. Rather astringent finish with a slick feel that a little bit of a dark malty fruit finish, which I assume could be from the fig syrup. Nice!!

Taste: Malt start with some herbs and spices that mix well with a hint of apples and oranges. Light toasted grains and a yeasty feel in the ending. This one drank well, but could not be classed as complex, more of a solid above average Pale Ale with some refreshingly different fruity, yeasty and herbal attributes.

Mouthfeel: The Brewers Father told us that Fig Syrup was added to this one, I would have never guessed, but the smooth mouth had a slick feel at times. This has a slick smooth almost creamy feel. The Darbyste has an average body that helps Drinkability, but it is seriously bolstered by a rather nice conditioning that ups this one a level or two.

Drinkability: The third of the regular brews that Blaugies produce, we had drunk them in the reverse order of strength, but somehow that didnt matter. I really enjoyed finishing this one before we headed over the road to the La Fourquet Restaurant and Café (owned by Blaugies) for some more beers. Quite a chuggable beer.

Overall: After only a few hours at Brasserie de Blaugies I have to say that I was very impressed with all of their offerings, none disappointed, all were above average, and all of high quality. A true Farmhouse Brewery that produces 3 regular beers and 1 seasonal offering at the end of the year.

Bottle found at Brix in Omaha, NE
No bottled-on date
Poured into a New Belgium globe glass

Darbyste is an interesting, memorable Belgian beer that seems to straddle the line between being a Belgian Pale Ale and a saison. The sharp, semi-fruity rustic nature of it suggest a saison, but the body, strength and Brettanomyces suggest a Belgian Pale Ale. Regardless, I enjoyed the fruit, sharpness, and funkiness of this beer. At $7 per bottle, it is a value.

Pours a cloudy dishwater brown (but in the light, dark burnt copper) body with some very active carbonation. The head is made up of medium-sized, off-white bubbles and it fizzes down quite rapidly to a perpetual cap atop the body. Head leaves good lacing, rather blotchy, on glass sides after each sip.

Aroma is fairly bright, a bit of lemon, a bit of spice, yeast, very mild basement must and Brettanomyces funk, and, surprisingly, ripe, fresh figs (though not so ripe that they've developed berry-like flavors).

Taste is moderately sweet overall. Opens with tart sweetness, like slightly dark malt flavors (slight caramel) complicated by unripe fruits, yeast, and yeast metabolites. Mid-palate brings in more interest with slight funk . Sharp tartness flashes across the back of the palate. Lingering aftertaste of subtle bitterness, some sweetness as from slightly tart, unripe fruit.

Body is generally light, with very active, but not antagonistic, carbonation. Resulting mouthfeel is pleasantly smooth, pillowy, and easy to drink. Finish is semi-dry.

Poured into a large tulip glass a murky tea color with a large fluffy white head,big citrus oil aromas along with a slight barnyard funk and clove not any detectable fig to be found.Pretty refreshing on the palate somewhat tart and lemony along with hints of clove and herbal hop wich lingers nicely a firm toastiness shows itself as well.A good warm weather brew here refreshing in its tartness and lighter in alc so it wont weigh you down.

Smell  The sharp, aromatic yeast cuts straight through the abundant fruits. Given some time, the figs do come out. They are subtle though and mix well with the basket of other fruits too numerous to mention or even to figure out. Some of my favorites are banana, cherry, beautiful in-season peaches, and oranges.

Taste  The spices that I clumsily missed at the nose are hard to ignore at the taste. These are typical of the style: coriander, white pepper, etc.

The fruits from the nose are complimented by a light lemon flavor. Its almost more like lemon tea than lemon from lemons, if you know what I mean. The tight yeast of course makes the backbone of this ale.

Mouthfeel  Super-big carbonation marks the light to medium body of this one.

Drinkability  I needed a complex but slow-sipper for Game 7 tonight (Go Bosox!) that wouldnt knock me out with a high ABV, and this one fit the bill just fine.

Got a tremendous deal on this one and just had to pick it up. Beautiful corked bomber bottle with nice medieval, holy art. Bottle says that the beer is brewed with fig juice. Poured a clear, orange/golden color with a bredy white head that lingered a bit and left behind decent lacing on the glass. Aroma is of apples, pears, spiciness, white grapes, the aroma is VERY complex and fruity. It definitely makes me excited to take my first sip of this Belgian brew. Taste is predominantly of white grapes, pears, coriander, yeast, and other fruity notes and finishes off very tart, but I was expecting more. I didnt pick up any fig flavors even though the label claims it was brewed with fig juice. Darbyste has a lot going for it, but the lack of ...fullness is fairly dissapointing. It has a good flavorful mix to it but lacks a certain depth that I cant quite put my finger on. Mouthfeel was unexciting as well. Very bubbly and thin with the tartness affecting the palate in a kind of undesirable way. I wouldnt consider this brew very drinkable either. It was a bit of a task to finish the entire bomber.

Also - BEWARE!!! These bottles are under EXTREME pressure under the cork. I was an idiot and while untwisting the metal cork sealer, I had the bottle pointed upwards, not away. I wasn;t expecting the cork to literally cannon out of the bottle AS SOON as I lifted the metal protector. The cork shot out like it was in Iraq, hitting me in the cheekbone, lol. Im lucky it didnt hit me in the eye. So be careful, and needless to say always keep the cork pointing away from you, even when you are just taking off the metal shutter on top of the cork. =)

Darbyste proudly announces that it is brewed with "fig juice," and perhaps this is the reason the brew's nose is so fruity and sugary. The aroma wafts up from an open glass, easily noticeable from a foot above, bearing strong notes of orange, apricot, lemon/lime, and light grapefruit, along with cane sugar and rose hips.

On the tongue, the beer proves nicely Flemish, and is a perfect balance between sugars and apple cider sour. The oranges, apricots, and lemon/lime translate well from the tongue, joined by lychee nut and what I can only assume is fig (though having never had unaccompanied fig juice, I admit to guessing). Combined with the tartness of apple cider, as well as a touch of confectioner's sugar at the edges, these fruits make for a wonderful mouthful. The sugars do fade quickly, leaving the aftertaste dominated by a fast-disappearing tartness. Mouthfeel is light, and carbonation is set at ridiculous: left on its own, a newly-opened bottle will foam over for several minutes; and sipping the brew leaves the tongue lightly tingling, much like champagne.

Undated 750 ml corked bottle served in a St. Bernardus snifter. Pours a hazy, orange-amber color that is topped by well-proportioned, thick, bone colored head. This beer is highly carbonated as can be seen and felt, although the carbonation is nicely soft. The glass gets fully coated with lace with each tip. Lively but not harsh or aggressive feel, with a semi-dry finish.

Aroma: Floral and quite fruity with hints of figs, and plums. Esters suggest a higher ABV than 5.8%. There is a light spiciness and some earthiness from, I suspect, both hops and yeast.

Taste: Fruity, with a finely mix of sweet and tart plus a faint bitterness. As I often find in pale Belgians, the taste is notably better than the aroma. Tart citrus and vague mixed fruits upfront until the finish, with the figs coming out more clearly in the finish and aftertaste. Hints of banana, white pepper, clove, and nutmeg, but the spiciness is subtle and not due, I believe, to any added spices. This exceptional ale is enticingly complex and dynamic.

O: This beer is exceptional, with plenty of complexity, great balance, and strong but relatively soft carbonation.

Pours a silty goldened pumpkin, dotted with a steady bead, under a stretching pile of ivory.
Scented of lime leaves, saltines, hay, and multicolored peppercorns.
Enters the mouth with a peach skin fuzzy fruitiness, then a bombastic dryness descends. Hay, and soup crackers, and white pepper, and black pepper, and balsawood, horse saddles, and sandpaper. This susposedly has fig syrup added. The dryness must just crucify it. Ends with a continuing parchedness, mixed with slightly greener floral hop notations and a squirt of lime juice. Fans of Saison DuPont will have another friend here.
Medium bodied with a roughed-up carbonation; a gaseousness that propels this down a throat with a forced- almost unconsenting- quickness.
Apparently this threw a monkey wrench in Darby's temperance movement. After downing this bottle, that's pretty understandable.

Pretty fun beer. Nose is fairly funky, yeasty, dish rag, grass, citrus, fruit. Taste is much less funky, though still present, quite dry, bready, a little citrusy, and finishes a little sweeter and juicier. Like others have mentioned, I can't really find the fig here, and I wish it was there. All in all, an enjoyable and approachable saison.

2oz pour: slightly cloudy copper in color. Has a unique taste unlike any flavored Saison I’ve had before. Extremely smooth with this funky flavor. The addition of fig juice gives it this kind of Smokey taste that is awesome! Well done. I will definitely seek this out again. 4.75

first off the cork went flying out of the bottle the second i broke the bail that was holding it down and blasted into the ceiling to give quite a start, appearently there is some pressure in here! the beer poured out a cloudy copper amberish color with a nice rocky white head.

the aroma of this beer was not what i had expected, it was very bright and sour. there was a touch of fig in here and some oaky character with a hint of lemon and a musty sourness that prevails overall.

the taste was at first tart and lactic with earthy wood like flavors in the background. it opened up to something of a spritzy citric acid lemon lime quality and left with faint notes of malt on the tail end.

this beer finished a light bodied and very refreshing sour type beer which was left behind on the palate. i had not expected this beer to be so sour and flemish in style but as i like this type of beer was not in the least dissapointed, whether or not this is how it was intended to be i'd get another to try and not be bothered if it was the same.

750 mL bottle poured into a De Struise chalice. No bottle info. My wife picked up the Blaugies line while on a road trip. One of them exploded in the car due to a faulty cage. I should have been more cautious when opening this one...

Appearance - As soon as I untwist the wire for the cage, it shoots off, hits me in the forehead, and deflects up to the ceiling. Immediately it gushes and I lose a fair bit of the beer. Two glasses couldn't hold the beer and subsequent head. The final bit was murky and yeasty, so I tossed it. The beer is a hazy burnt orange with a gigantic cream head. Clings to the glass as it slowly recedes, without ever fully dissipating.

Taste - All I get is the white wine grape flavor, some other fruits, and a bit of grainy malt. It really isn't an exciting flavor. A bitter aftertaste is surprising, because it's the most assertive flavor in the end. It should also be noted that the foam on top is extremely bitter.

Mouthfeel - Light, easy to drink, low in alcohol. Nice for an afternoon on the porch. Not overcarbonated, as I expected it to be.

Overall - Nothing exciting going on here. Clean flavors, but just dull as can be. The fruit is nondescript and the beer holds very little flavor.